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CHARLES LOUIS KING. For many years Charles Louis King has occupied a prominent place in the business circles of Walnut Grove and few men are better known in Greene, Polk and Dade counties. As merchant, stock man and banker, each role having been successfully followed by him, his career has been characterized by industry and sound judgment, and fair dealing is his watchword in all his transactions. He has for a decade been president of the Citizen's. Bank at Walnut Grove. He is optimistic, looking on the bright side of life and never complains at the rough places in the road, knowing that life is a battle in which no victories are won by the slothful, but that the prize is to, the vigilant and the strong of heart.
Mr. King was born at Walnut Grove, Missouri, February 7, 1868. He is a son of John M. and Nancy E. (Carlock) King, the father born at Walnut Grove on November 12, 1839, and the mother was born at Dadeville, this state, on October 5, 1845, each representatives of pioneer families in this section of the Ozarks. They grew to maturity amid frontier scenes, were educated in the early-day subscription schools, and upon reaching maturity married and established their home at Walnut Grove, where Mr. King spent his life, engaged in various pursuits, such as farming and operating a hotel, and was always well and favorably known throughout this locality. During the Civil War John M. King enlisted in Company K, Sixth Missouri Infantry, Federal army, and served faithfully as a private for two years, when he was discharged on account of disability.
Charles L. King grew to manhood in his native community and received his education in the Walnut Grove schools, and here he has spent the major portion of his life. When twenty years of age he went to California and herded cattle on one of the large ranches of that state for a period of five years, during which time he became an excellent judge of cattle, and, upon returning to Walnut Grove, bought and shipped live stock for a period of six years with much success, then operated a drug store here for three years, enjoying a good trade. He then went to Oklahoma, where he engaged in the hardware business for a year, then returned to Walnut Grove and organized the Citizen's Bank, and from that time, to the present he has been president, a period of ten years, during which his able management and conservative policy have resulted in the building up of one of the sound and safe banking institutions in this part of the state and a large business is carried on with the country, a general banking business being done along the most approved and modern methods of banking. Mr. King also finds time to deal extensively in the mule business.
On December 31, 1912, Mr. King was united in marriage to Audrey B. Morgan, of Humansville, Missouri, a daughter of Daniel W. and Eliza A. Morgan, a highly respected and well-known family of that place.
Politically Mr. King is a Democrat and has been more or less active in local party affairs, although not as a candidate for public honors. In 1907 he united with the Presbyterian church at Walnut Grove, of which he has since been a consistent member. Fraternally he belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Springfield and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Walnut Grove. He is a good mixer, friendly, obliging and has no trouble in retaining the many friendships which he forms everywhere he goes.
[1208-1209]
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